Theresa May unveils plans for 'Office for Tackling Injustices'

Theresa May has announced plans for an Office for Tackling Injustices, which will be tasked with holding the government to account on "disparities in society".

The new independent body will be responsible for "challenging social injustices" in areas such as ethnicity, gender, disability and sexual orientation.

Downing Street said it would collect data that was currently unavailable or unreliable in order to find out what barriers faced specific groups.

It follows the approach taken by the Race Disparity Audit which uses data to analyse how a person’s ethnicity affects their experiences of public services.

Announcing the new organisation today, the Prime Minister said: "I have demanded that if disparities cannot be explained, they must be changed.

"The Office for Tackling Injustices will go further, using the power of data, gathered from extensive sources, to shine a spotlight on key injustices and provide the catalyst for better policy solutions. By holding Government and wider society to account, we can create lasting change."

Mrs May pledged to tackle "burning injustices" in her first speech as Prime Minister in 2016.

However, she has been heavily criticised by opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, who claimed her commitment had "fizzled out".

"Was it Labour that introduced the Modern Slavery Act? No it was me. Was it Labour that made sure people in mental health crisis were not being taken to police cells as a place of safety? No, it was me," Mrs May retorted.

"Was it the Labour party that introduced the Race Disparity Audit, so for the first time we can see what's happening to people from across our communities in this country. No it was me and this government."